Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Building a Better Base

While the Buffalo Run 50 miler was a huge success for me there were also a lot of lessons I learned from that race. I had initially thought, after my mid-race mental breakdown, that I simply didn't have enough long runs (over 30 miles) on my legs before the race, but feedback I got from friends who have more experience than me have changed my mind on the matter.

While I still think it is imperative to have at least one or two long runs over 30 miles in preparation for a 50 miler, I believe those runs are more about time on the trails and dealing with the endless hours of moving forward. It has come to my attention that what is really important is simply building a better base of weekly miles. I was told by more than one person that my target goal should be trying to keep up a base of around 10 miles a day with a longer run sometime during or at the end of the week. That would bring my weekly mileage up to about 70 miles per week. Ideally, that is where I've wanted to be anyway. While I couldn't quite do that in preparation for the Buffalo Run, it is certainly my primary focus right now.

So last week I changed my focus to my new training format and I'm pressing to try and make 10 miles each day feel like 5, in other words, easy. Last week I was able to get 50 miles in five days of running with one of those days being only a 3 miler. I couldn't do a long run due to conflicts which ended up being a good thing because it was technically my first week back at training since the race. And what a week it was. Two of the days I ran in shorts and a t-shirt, the other day I ran in 6 inches of snow, long pants and 3 shirts with a beanie and gloves. This month's weather is so messed up. But not only did I still get my miles, but I also included about 5,000 feet of vertical running, something I'll desperately need as I prepare for upcoming races and adventure runs.

Here is a pic from Friday's SlurpeeFest 15 miler. This is my friend Matt running down the Bell Canyon Trail from the reservoir.

1 comment:

Sounds like you've consulted some wise people. I certainly agree with them... For my weekend long runs I typically set out for "time on my feet" rather than aiming for specific mileage. It's worked for me thus far.